The Force is Always With Us
by MinaP
Summary: Sailor Moon/Star Wars/Real Life Crossover


The Force Is Always With Us

AUTHORS: JediSenshi ainominako@hotmail.com

NautaLuna jedihealer@hotmail.com

DISCLAIMER: Star Wars belongs to George Lucas, Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi (I hope they forgive us) and Julia, Gayle and Leanne and others belong to themselves.

AUTHORS' NOTES: This would be I believe, the fourth draft of this story. All but the first draft have been posted online (maybe the second wasn't I don't remember) the first draft however, was erased right after it was finished due to faulty disk. This draft will hopefully be the final one. It's purpose is to clean up the characters and make everything more credible (if that's at all possible considering the plot *l*) Please enjoy, and send any comments to ME at ainominako@hotmail.com and NautaLuna at jedihealer@hotmail.com.

DISTRIBUTION: PLEASE! ^-^ anywhere with our names on it!

  
  


**THE FORCE IS ALWAYS WITH US**

  
  


The back yard of J. H. Putman Junior High was a large strip of pavement about 3 cars wide and two tennis courts plunked on weed infested grass, all adjacent to the queensway. At the end of the yard, near the teachers' parking lot, there was a raised grate surrounded by metal posts. Sitting on one of those grates with their backs to the school were Julia and Gayle, both with their noses in a Star Wars book.

Their friends were a small ways away, being social as most people tend to do during lunch hour. "See now, that's it," Julia poked Gayle with her elbow. Gayle looked up from her book and over at her friend. "We're trying too hard, that's what I think it is."

Gayle shrugged, knowing that her friend was talking about the Force and their previous attempts to levitate. She and Julia worked on the same wavelength, which is why they were such good friends. Julia could even tell approximately where Gayle was at any given time.

"Do you get the feeling that something is about to happen?" she asked, looking up at the blue sky, dotted with clouds and flipping her long, brown ponytail behind her back.

"Yeah," Julia followed her gaze as she put her book down, and put her blonde hair in a pony tail again so all the wisps were out of her face. The two blue eyed girls stared up into the sky.

"Hey guys," their friend Leanne came up to them. "It's the very last day of school! Show a little enthusiasm!"

Julia and Gayle looked over at her in unison. "We are," they replied together. The two of them talked in unison so often, and acted so alike some people thought they were sisters, despite the fact that Gayle was a slight five foot, and Julia had a solid European build and was five foot four.

"But these are really good books," Julia added. Leanne rolled her eyes.

"We come on, there's only five minutes until lunch is over," she announced with a sigh.

"FIVE MINUTES!?" Julia jumped up, grabbed Gayle, and sped into the school, dragging Gayle behind. She was obsessive compulsive about being early, and was inflicting it upon her best friend as well.

They were in such a hurry, they didn't hear the very odd sounding plane as it flew overhead.

~**~**~**~**~

After school, Julia, Gayle, Leanne and a few others were going to the Capital Book Store on Summerset. It was a prime source of Sailor Moon merchandise. Leanne had her hair in a ponytail mimicking Sailor Jupiter, Julia, the only blonde of the group, had her hair in a red bow mimicking Venus, Gayle had odangoes mimicking Sailor Moon. The store employee wouldn't know what hit him.

They impatiently took the bus to their destination, and once there, charged. The enthusiastic girls popped loonies into the vending machine for large stickers, plastered their faces to the counter window, scoured the videos for the Sailor Moon movies, and circled the posters like vultures circling half dead animals in the desert. Almost a full hour later, they were finally finished, and purchased the desired items. 

Everyone caught the two, seeing as that was the only bus going down the street, however the girls parted at different stops, as they all had different final destinations. Gayle and Julia got off and walked to Julia's apartment, where they dropped off their stuff and phoned their parents to let them know they were going to the park to meet up with Leanne.

Seeing as Julia lived so much closer to the park than Leanne, they arrived before her. Sitting on the swings, Gayle and Julia discussed what to do as they were waiting. "The feeling's gotten stronger," Gayle told her friend. Julia nodded in silent agreement.

"Maybe we should try to do something about it," Julia replied. Gayle shrugged.

"What can we do?"

Julia turned her swing and took Gayle's hands. "We can try calling them," she replied. The two of them shut their eyes and gathered their energies. Then they sent them shooting upwards, probing for someone who could receive the summons. They stayed like this until Leanne showed up and interrupted them.

"Hey guys!" she called, frustration showing in her voice.

"What?" Gayle and Julia asked. Leanne rolled her eyes.

"What were you two doing? I called out like, five times!" Leanne chastised them with her hands on her hips.

"Well, see there's something that's going to happen today," Gayle started explaining.

"We can feel it, it's like an electricity in the air," Julia continued.

"And we were seeing if we could call whoever is going to cause it all," Gayle finished the quick explanation.

"I think we got to someone too, just before you interrupted us," Julia added a tad miffed. Leanne sighed. She was a bit worried about her friends' grip on reality. Then again, reality wasn't very nice to them at the moment, they would probably get over it, and how many people could truly be called sane?

"Look you two, I really don't think that-" Leanne was suddenly interrupted by a deafening noise that was very familiar to both Gayle and Julia. They all turned around to face the football field in the park to see the a hamburger shaped space ship with an protrusion on the right side which was the cockpit. It was a corellian freighter.

"Everyone else is seeing this too right?" Gayle asked.

"This is NOT happening," Leanne muttered. "it's only a dream. It's only a dream. Someone pinch me. Ow! Not both of you!" Leanne belatedly batted at Julia and Gayle's hands.

"Is it just me, or is the ground spinning?" Julia asked in a weak voice. The three girls stared at the ship straight out of their favorite movie trilogy.

"It's a mass hallucination, right?" Leanne asked breathlessly. Just then, a football ran into the side of the ship. The boy trying to catch the football stared in surprise and started to stop his running, but was too late, and also ran into the side of the ship. He got up, and him and his friends all ran.

The entrance ramp to the _Falcon_ lowered and out came none other than Luke Skywalker. Gayle and Julia both emitted a high pitched squeal of excitement and disbelief. Julia started to shake her hands, as she was filling with energy in reaction to the events, and it was welling up in her palms. "Here, take this I don't need it," she put her hand on Gayle and pushed the energy out. Gayle jumped away.

"And I do!?" she yelled. Luke Skywalker, who had been watching the whole thing with mild interest, walked up to the three girls. All three mouths dropped.

"You contacted me?" he asked. Gayle and Leanne stared in awe and incredulity, but Julia's personality kicked in and she grinned from ear to ear.

"Can I get your autograph Master Skywalker?" she asked. "I'm sure I have a pen in my bag... wow! You can make it out to Julia," Gayle, Leanne and even Luke stared at her unbelieving.

"Jules, I don't think that'll work, they have a different alphabet remember?" Gayle pointed out, her voice still a whisper.

"Besides, if you show it to anyone, they're gonna commit you, I mean, who the hell would believe this?" Leanne asked. It was much easier to pay attention to Julia's silly question than the fact that a supposedly fictional character was standing right in front of them.

"Well come on! I'm not gonna give up this opportunity!" Julia put her hands on her hips and turned to face her two friends. "How often do we get to meet famous people? And here one, albeit reputedly fictional, is standing right in front of us and you two aren't going to take advantage of that!?"

"Excuse me," Luke spoke up. The three girls turned back to him, all blushing deeply. "Not to long ago, someone contacted me through the Force, now, I just saw you transferring the same signature power, was it you?"

Julia and Gayle's eyes widened and they grinned from ear to ear in triumph as Leanne's jaw dropped even further. "I knew it!" Julia announced with pride.

"That was us! Wow, I KNEW we were Force strong," Gayle grinned, the same pride in her voice, "there must be something weird with the planet's gravitational pull which prevents us from levitating or something."

"Of course, there are also some things you can't learn on your own," Julia added to Gayle's commentary. Gayle nodded sagely.

"Is there something wrong with your friend's jaw?" Luke asked. Julia and Gayle both looked at him, blank, confused looks on their faces, then looked over at Leanne's all but unhinged jaw.

"She just doesn't believe in the Force that's all," Gayle shrugged. It was Luke's turn to be surprised. "Anyway, we know you, but I'm Gayle, that's Leanne, and that blonde maniac is Julia."

"How about a demonstration, that'll prove all this to Leanne," Julia grinned. "You could test us for Force sensitivity!"

Luke looked a bit confused, as the fact that Julia and Gayle were Force strong had already been established, but the third seemed to need convincing, and he was curious as to just how strong they were. "Alright," he put his hands to Julia's temples and concentrated on the back of her mind, where the natural protection was. He was pushed in the chest with a force strong enough to send him flying a meter or two.

"OH MY GOD! WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Gayle cried just as Julia screamed.

"OH MY GOD! I DIDN'T DO IT!" They both rushed over and helped the dazed Jedi Master to his feet.

"Are you okay?" Gayle asked him. Luke shook his head to clear it then turned to Julia.

"Definitely Force strong," he turned to Gayle and did the same, and the same pressure send him flying, only this time Julia broke his fall.

"Thanks for waiting until I was out of the way," she muttered sarcastically as he got up. Luke helped Julia up. Gayle pushed Leanne up in front of Luke.

"Here, test her too!" Luke repeated the test, and stumbled back a bit as her natural Force defense pushed him back, but not as hard as Julia or Gayle's.

"What is going on?" Leanne asked. "Why does he keep falling over?" Julia laughed.

"It's a Force strong test," Julia and Gayle said in unison. "There's a memory center in the back of your brain, and if you're Force strong, you automatically have a little Force barrier protecting it." Gayle continued.

"The test is that you go into the person's mind and press on that spot," Julia finished up the explanation. "The more powerful a person is in the Force, the harder it will push you back."

"Exactly right," Luke nodded. "How do you two know about this, but she didn't even believe in the Force?"

Julia shrugged. "One word. Obsession." Luke raised an eyebrow, but didn't get a chance to press any further, as Han Solo came down the entry ramp.

"Hey Kid!" he called to Luke. "Can we get going already? This place is making me a little nervous."

"I'll be there in a minute Han," he called back. Then Luke turned to Leanne, Julia and Gayle. "Listen, you three are all Force strong, and are already learning to use the Force. You need proper guidance, teaching. I'd like you to come with me to the Jedi Academy."

Julia and Gayle exchanged elated looks, then jumped up and down hugging each other and screaming. Leanne looked a bit stunned, but was, as always the voice of reason. "We'll need clothes, and what about our parents?"

Luke frowned in thought. "Well, there is an experimental droid prototype we've been wanting to try out. With a DNA sample, it can mimic you almost exactly. Or that's what it's designer said."

Julia shrugged. "Well, I'm willing to give it a go. Besides, if it doesn't work out, I'm sure my mom would let me go anyway."

"And our wardrobes?" Leanne asked.

~**~**~**~**~

We were given time to pack, not all our clothes, our droid replacements could adjust their outer casing to simulate our wardrobes so they had no need of them. We met back at the park a little over an hour later, and set off for our Jedi training.

Han Solo and his copilot wookie Chewbacca flew the _Millennium Falcon_ to Yavin 4, a moon in the outer rim of the galaxy, as it turns out the same as Earth. After a nap to start adjusting to the time change, Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa Solo, her and Han's twin daughter and son, Jaina and Jacen, Chewbacca's nephew Lowbacca and their friend Tenel Ka of Dathomir gave the three earthlings a tour of the ship. Jaina, Jacen, Lowie (with the help of his Em Teedee translator) and Tenel Ka explained to the three new recruits about Yavin 4 and the Jedi Academy.

Just as the tour was wrapping up a loud beeping noise. Gayle and Julia exchanged quick, excited glances as they identified the noise as the _Falcon_'s proximity indicator. "We're here!" they shouted in excitement.

The others looked confused. "How do you know the proximity indicator?" Jaina asked. "Your planet doesn't have technology like this."

Julia giggled. "But they have films," she winked.

"Enough chatter, strap yourselves in," Leia said, ever the mother. Everyone did as told, although Gayle, Julia and Leanne had a bit of trouble. They felt their stomachs drop a little as the _Falcon_ entered the planet's atmosphere and descended to the landing field of the Jedi Academy that had once been a Rebel Base during the rebellion against the Empire and before that even, a temple to an evil Sith Lord before even the days of the old Republic.

After untangling themselves from their safety harnesses, Julia, Leanne and Gayle ran out onto the moon and looked around at their surroundings in awe. "Are we really here?" Gayle breathed out.

"We're on hollowed ground!" Julia sighed. Everyone looked at Julia at that, had they been anime characters, they would have had giant sweat drops on their heads.

"Don't you mean hallowed ground?" Leanne asked. Julia furrowed her brow at Leanne.

"That's what I said."

~**~**~**~**~

Many years ago, evil forces had tried to infiltrate Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy. Luke had always been able to find the tainted ones and send them away, but one he did not. Luke had let Brakiss into his Academy and taught him, in hopes that Brakiss would turn away from the Dark Side of the Force and join the Light. Luke had been wrong, and Brakiss had left to form his own school. The Shadow Academy was now run by this dark student. Brakiss taught adolescents to become Dark Jedi, or, if they weren't Force adepts, simply to become stormtroopers. All this he did for the sake of the Second Imperium. They would take back the galaxy from the overgrown rebellion parading itself as government.

Over his shoulder, clad in lizard skin armor, stood the one whom the Emperor had ordered to help him, Tamith Kai. She was one of the Nightsisters of Dathomir. The dathomirian women all used the Force, however the Nightsisters all used the Dark Side of the Force, and they did a fairly good job of recruiting for the Shadow Academy.

"Your underlings did well installing the vid recorder," Brakiss told her as he stared at a vidscreen showing his best student's former friends and three new recruits stepping off of the famed _Millennium Falcon_. Tamith Kai, as usual, had little reaction. Her mouth stayed firmly pressed shut, and her violet eyes, set off by her ebony hair, continued to blaze with hatred as she stared at the small screen. "Those three look promising. Their minds have not yet been poisoned by Luke "the Invincible" Skywalker." Brakiss' sneered at his former mentor's name.

"I thought you'd stopped recruiting from Yavin 4," she replied simply. Tamith Kai didn't like the look of those three girls, two brunets one with long hair, the other medium length, and a blonde. They seemed to undisciplined to be of any threat, she should be allowed to kill that Dathomir girl. She was a threat.

Brakiss smiled inwardly. He could feel Tamith Kai bristling with anticipation at the thought of being able to go to Yavin 4. Her eyes blazed with thoughts of killing.

"These three are special," he muttered. "I can feel it. They must be captured, or destroyed." Brakiss paused to run a had through his blonde hair, playing on Tamith Kai's impatience. "I shall send Zekk on this errand. He will not fail me."

With that Brakiss got up and left the room, leaving Tamith Kai smoldering with anger.

~**~**~**~**~

After a tour of the Jedi Academy, most of which was spent paying attention to the good looking guys, Jacen Solo included, Gayle, Julia and Leanne were shown to their new rooms. They were a little on the dilapidated side, there was a hole in the wall in between Gayle's room and Julia's room, but it WAS a thousand plus year old temple.

Gayle, Julia and Leanne spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning their rooms and moving in with the furniture provided. Jacen, Jaina, Lowie and Tenel Ka stopped by their rooms just before dinner.

"Hey, it's dinner time," Jacen announced as he poked his head through Gayle's door. Julia's head appeared through the hole in the wall.

"Food?!" she asked. "That's great! I'm starving!!" she crawled through the hole and brushed off her pants. Then she looked up at Jacen with a confused look on her face. "Uh, what kind of food do you have here?"

Jaina chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll like something. We usually have a wide variety to deal with the different species around here."

Jaina, Jacen, Lowie and Tenel Ka lead the way to the mess hall and the seven trainees got in line for their food. "Talk about fine dinning," Leanne commented dryly as she looked around at the uncomfortable looking benches and not so sturdy looking tables crammed into the large room.

"Hey," Jacen defended. "Master Skywalker IS on a budget."

"This is more than adequate for our purposes," Tenel Ka said with a slight nod of her head that shook her red gold braids.

Lowie barked out something, and Jaina nodded. "Good idea Lowie," she agreed before Em Teedee could translate.

"Wha'd he say?" Gayle asked, looking from Lowie to Jaina.

"Master Lowbacca suggests that perhaps you three should be informed of the quotidian routine of the Jedi Academy." Em Teedee translated with the usual flourishes.

Gayle and Julia exchanged glances as Lowie growled at Em Teedee, probably something about his tendency to add onto everything Lowie said. "Definitely programmed by Threepio." they agreed.

"So what is the uh, routine?" Leanne asked.

"There's not much of a routine," Jaina explained. "Meals are served three hours after dawn, then at noon, and now. The food is available for about an hour, although you can generally get a few light snacks between meals."

"Master Skywalker does lectures in the morning, from about a half hour after they stop serving breakfast until almost lunch time. Each one is about hour, hour and fifteen minutes, and there are fifteen minute breaks in-between. He gets in about three. The first are always for the newer trainees, and they're more sessions, he and Tionne work with everyone and teach them the basics and such. The third is simply instructions, a task to master by the afternoon or something," Jacen continued. It was a simple schedule, worked out so that Luke would get time with every student, and be able to make sure everyone knew what they were doing.

"The afternoon is spent carrying out Master Skywalker's instructions," Tenel Ka finished up. "And he works personally with students having trouble or just starting out."

Gayle, Julia and Leanne nodded, to indicate that they'd taken in all the information just give. "So would we go to those lecture thingies in the morning-"

"-and then go bug Master Skywalker all afternoon." Julia, and then Gayle summed up what they were to do the next day.

And that's exactly what they did.

~**~**~**~**~

Luke had Gayle, Julia and Leanne start off with the basics. The Force is an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, it penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together. And so, Luke started them off sensing the energy field created by all living things. Feeling what was around them and being able to sense where it was so that they could walk around with their eyes shut and not bump into things. Very handy if you have to go to the washroom in the middle of the night.

Next was surrounding something in the Force. They were all easy steps, but Luke insisted on a day to master each. They held rocks in each other's palms and the object was to surround the rock in the Force, and tell it apart from the hand of the person who was holding it. The next step, was to levitate the rock. After a few tries, most people were able to get the rock a shaky few centimeters off the other's hand.

Julia couldn't. All the other exercises came fine, quite easily actually, especially considering how she'd tried (and failed) on Earth. But for some reason she could not levitate, and it was frustrating as hell.

Leanne, Gayle and Julia continued with their training, and soon their Force talents manifested themselves. Gayle's was healing, she seemed to be able to sense wounds and what could be done to fix them. Leanne showed her strength with people and sensing who was coming, how many people, something that was rather hard to determine, and Luke predicted that after she had more training, Leanne would be able to work with the mind very well.

Julia's talent explained her failure to levitate. She shared the same affliction as many corellian Jedi. Julia could not levitate unless given an excess of energy, but she could take that energy from anything. This included point blank range from a blaster, although it stung quite a bit, and she had to use the energy right away, she couldn't store any of it.

Then, they worked on Force augmentation. How to improve their hearing, sight, sound by using the Force, that took two days to learn. Giving their strength a boost with the Force took two days to learn as well. With Jaina, Jacen, Lowie and Tenel Ka to help them, Julia, Gayle and Leanne were advancing rapidly in their studies. Soon enough, they were able to take some of the afternoon off, and repay the students of the Jedi Academy for their kindness with a small reenactment.

"I will not fight you father," Gayle quoted from Luke and Vader's final battle in Return of the Jedi. She was dressed in all black, her hair up to make it look short, and she had a sign around her neck that said LUKE. In her hand was her toy lightsaber, an imitation of Luke's. Julia was also dressed in black, but she had a cape and hat as well. Around her neck was a sign that read VADER.

"Obi-Wan has taught you well," Julia replied, holding her red, mock-Vader lightsaber. She walked up to Gayle and Gayle moved back hesitantly. "You are unwise to lower your defenses!" Julia raised her lightsaber and Gayle and Julia started dueling again, in our carefully choreographed re-enactment. By this time, quite a crowd had gathered, including Master Skywalker, whose eyes were very large. The two of them dueled until Gayle flipped up onto a tree branch and turned off her toy saber.

"Your thoughts betray you Father. I can feel the good in you. The conflict," she said.

"There is no conflict," Julia replied simply.

"You couldn't bring yourself to kill me before, and I don't believe you'll destroy me now."

"You underestimate the power of the dark side. If you will not fight then you will meet your destiny!" Julia then threw her lightsaber up at the tree branch, to Gayle's right. She dodged left and slid down the tree, hiding in a bush. All of this, of course, was a simple Force exercise, a way to practice the three things Master Skywalker had charged them with; the fact that there was a crowd poised on the edge of their seats was irrelevant.

Julia paced around looking for Gayle. "You cannot hide forever, Luke," she said after a bit of searching.

"I will not fight you," came the reply from the bush.

"Give yourself to the dark side, it is the only way to save your friends. Yes... your thoughts betray you, your feelings for them are strong. Especially for... sister? So you have a twin sister. Your feelings have now betrayed her too. Obi-Wan was wise to hide her from me, but now his failure is complete. If you will not turn to the Dark Side, then perhaps she will."

"NEVER!" Gayle cried, rising her toy lightsaber and igniting it. She charged Julia and the two of them fought, Gayle backing Julia up to a spot they had already prepared to act as the shaft in the center of the Death Star. There were branches set up as a barrier around the edge of the forest. Julia tripped backwards, a controlled fall, and put her hand to a spot they had already cut most of the way through with a vibro-blade. Gayle furiously clashed at Julia's saber three or four times, then Julia pulled her hand in her sleeve, dropping her lightsaber, and Gayle hit down on the cut in the branch and the branch split.

Julia groaned in defeat and pain, as Vader did when his hand had been cut off by Luke. Gayle and Julia froze in that tableau, until Leanne came out in front of them and announced that the show was over and if they wanted to learn more, to ask them about Return of the Jedi. The gathered crowd clapped for Gayle and Julia as they bowed, and then cleared out as they had other things to do. Luke Skywalker, however, remained.

"Hey Master Skywalker!" Julia greeted cheerily. Her grin faltered when she noticed the expression on his face. It was very, very pale, and he seemed to be fighting to maintain his legendary Jedi calm.

"Uh, I take it by your reaction that the re-enactment was accurate?" Leanne asked, ending with a nervous laugh.

"How did you learn about that?" he asked, strain apparent in his voice. Gayle and Julia exchanged glances. Somehow, this wasn't turning out like the good idea it had been in their minds.

"You remember us explaining about the Star Wars trilogy?" Gayle asked tentatively. "How it told of the rebellion against the Empire?" Luke nodded, recalling the explanation and realizing that it would have also shown his own Jedi training.

"I take it there's to be no encores," Julia sighed. Luke took a claming breath and started to head towards the temple.

"Come on," he said. "It's almost dinner time." Julia, Gayle and Leanne all released breaths they didn't know they'd been holding, knowing that they wouldn't get in trouble for this.

Gayle, Leanne and Julia followed Master Skywalker through the deserted clearing around the temple towards the entrance in the main hanger growing more and more uncomfortable as they continued. The place was never so deserted, not even during a meal.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Gayle muttered. Just as she spoke, there was the sound of a ship coming in. They all turned as a ship skimmed across the top of the forest, under the planetary shield and landed ten meters away from Julia, Gayle and Leanne.

"Why did you have to say that?" Julia asked as the ramp descended and masked people dressed in black came out, blasters in hand. Gayle, Julia and Leanne turned to run, Julia heading for the forest, Leanne and Gayle towards the temple and Master Skywalker, whose lightsaber was already blazing. Leanne was quickly pegged with a stun blast from one of the blasters, but Gayle made it to the safety of Luke Skywalker's protection before they could get her.

One started to fight Luke with his own lightsaber, as another dragged Leanne into the ship, and four more went after Julia and Gayle. Julia dodged behind a tree as a stun beam sliced through the air where she had been. Gayle shrieked just before they got her with a stun beam.

"Leave these girls alone," Luke said. The man he was facing just laughed and attacked Luke again. Suddenly there was a beeping sound from the ship. The men dressed in black all withdrew, running into the ship. Luke ran after them, but didn't make it to the closing ramp in time.

As the engine started up again, Julia emerged from the forest, realizing that they were no longer after her. It was blind luck that she hadn't been caught as well, she'd run by a patch of grenade fungi, being careful to avoid stepping on them but her would be captor hadn't been so careful and the ensuing blast sheltered Julia's escape.

Julia saw the ship taking off, and knew instantly that her friends were on it. Her eyes went wide with pain. "NO!" she screamed aloud, as if her very words would halt the ship. As Julia's need to save her friends grew, she suddenly felt an odd calm envelop her. She shut her eyes, and lowered her head. The Force was flowing through her. Julia had opened herself up to the Force, had become one with the Force.

She raised her head towards the ship, eyes still closed, face calmer than Luke had ever seen it. Julia reached out towards the ship with her right hand, and their engines started to fail. Using the Force, Julia was sucking the energy out of the ship's power core. A ring of fire burst up around her, the excess energy having nowhere else to go.

"Julia!" Luke cried trying to get her attention, as small fire spouts exploded around the yard. "Stop this! You could destroy yourself."

Julia, however, could not hear him. She could only concentrate on the engines and the ship that was taking away her friends. Luke, having no other choice used the Force himself to surround Julia in a type of bubble blocking her connection with the ship. She let out a strangled yelp and all the fires went out as she passed out and the shuttle burst through the atmosphere.

~**~**~**~**~

Gayle awoke in a gray room. There were no other words to describe it. The walls were a slate gray, as was the box spring of the bed, the sheets, the pillowcase the covers even the unimaginative dresser against the wall. There was a door, slightly darker silver than the rest of the slate gray room, and a keypad beside it that looked like it had been taken off-line. There was another door, beside the dresser, the keypad was online, so Gayle assumed it was the bathroom, at least she got her own, wherever she was.

Gayle sighed as she surveyed the room again. "Someone was obviously missed when they were handing out imagination," she sat up and pursed her lips. "Oh well, a couple of throw rugs, a bookcase, some colour. It'll be nice and homey."

Gayle got up and walked to the dresser. She opened a drawer and sighed again. "Why am I not surprised?" she asked herself pulling out the black clothes. At least they were her size. Gayle decided to stick with what she was wearing- her black Yoda t-shirt.

The doors to her room whooshed open, and Gayle spun around as a stormtrooper walked in. "Lord-"

"Excuse me!" Gayle snapped indignantly, following her first reaction to the stormtroopers unannounced entrance. "What if I had been changing!? Don't you know how to KNOCK!?"

"Sorry?" the stormtrooper asked, unsure how to react to this outburst.

"Get out of my room and don't you DARE approach it until you have learned how to knock!" Gayle ordered, pointing furiously at the door. The stormtrooper shamefully slinked out of the room. Gayle blinked for a second, as she realized that what she had just done worked, and then burst out laughing.

There was a quick knock at the door, and then it whooshed open again, admitting what looked like the same stormtrooper, although admittedly, Gayle couldn't really tell them apart. "Lord Br-

"Excuse me!" Gayle yelled. "The entire point of knocking is to announce your presence _outside_ the door. Then, if the person inside wishes you to enter, they say so and you do. You WAIT for an answer BEFORE you come barging in!"

"Sorry, I'll try it again," the stormtrooper left, and Gayle, once again, burst into hysterics. She had barely enough time to calm herself, when the door swooshed open for a third time.

"Excuse m-" Gayle was about to start her speech all over again when a guy about a foot taller than her with long dark hair pulled back in a ponytail and fierce green eyes grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet.

"Do not even think of trying that on me," he said in a voice that dripped contempt. Gayle, from having read the Star Wars Young Jedi Knights series, identified this teenager as Zekk, Jaina and Jacen's old friend from Coruscant. "Lord Brakiss wants to see you, and he wants to see you now. Shut up and follow me."

"That's never gonna heal if you don't stop picking," Gayle commented on Zekk's face, tinted green from the Dark Side. He just turned and started to drag her out of the room. "Oh, I almost forgot, Jaina says hi." With that Zekk spun around and glared at her with such hatred that Gayle flinched.

"Lord Brakiss thinks you are too valuable to kill," he said quietly, which made it all the more threatening, "personally, I don't see why. You watch yourself; this is a big place and accidents can happen." With that he let go of Gayle's arm with a bit of a push and turned back the way he was headed. "Follow." he commanded simply, and Gayle followed.

They walked through a maze of halls, all sterile white and gleaming. All the same, silver doors spaced evenly with a computer console put in every now and then. Finally, they arrived at a pair of doors at the end of a hall which were slightly different than the others. They were the same silver colour as all the others, but they were double doors that opened sideways, instead of from floor to ceiling like the guillotine inspired doors in the rest of the Shadow Academy.

Zekk pressed the button and the doors swooshed open. He shoved Gayle through them. "Lord Brakiss will see you shortly, don't sit until he tells you and don't touch anything," Zekk left and Gayle heard a locking mechanism click into place. Gayle sighed, sat down in the chair opposite the desk and decided to take the opportunity to drink in the colours around her. The most colour she'd seen around here, including the green in Zekk's complexion.

There was another set of doors on the other side of the desk, probably the ones Brakiss would come through. Brakiss' desk was elegant, of course, polished so the surface gleamed. The walls were jet black, decorated with intricate paintings of natural disasters. Gayle looked from the supernova to the volcano, and at the small figures of people fleeing and decided she didn't need colour all that much. A few minutes later, Leanne was thrown into the room. She and Gayle exchanged glances, then Leanne sat beside her friend.

The two girls had been waiting at least a half hour when the tall, porcelain faced man they called Brakiss came in. He was of course dressed in black, his blonde hair immaculate, tall and stunning, but he was also followed by a stench of dark side enough to make them sick to their stomachs.

Gayle swallowed her revulsion and went for the casual approach. "Hey Ken, where's Barbie?" she asked in reference to his looks. The allusion was lost on him, of course, but Leanne stifled a giggle.

"Do not disrespect me," Brakiss said in a voice that conveyed his barely controlled anger. "You should not sit until I tell you to sit, so stand. Now!" Gayle and Leanne both felt a jolt of fiery pain up their backsides as Brakiss' eyes flashed. They shot up quickly out of the chairs, and it stopped. Brakiss visibly calmed and then sat at his desk, leaving Gayle and Leanne standing. They were at eye level this way, Gayle suspected that the chair was raised somewhat, she may have been short, but not that short. "You are here-"

"To complain about my accommodations," Gayle continued with her stubborn streak. "This is the lousiest vacation I've ever been on!" The pain shot through her again, this time from her feet all the way to her head.

"Do not interrupt me," Brakiss told her. "There are rules in this place, one of them is respect. You will learn it." Brakiss paused to let her take this in. "You are here because you two have been chosen to follow in the cause so many others have given their lives to. To follow the Great Master of the Second Imperium. I am Lord Brakiss, leader of this establishment. You will refer to me as such and grant me the respect I am due."

Gayle and Leanne, still standing, exchanged glances. Brakiss' eyes tightened, but he continued. "Now let us see what Skywalker has taught you." Brakiss reached into a hidden drawer in his desk and pulled out a black cylinder. He took it apart, and a greenish-blue flame that didn't give off heat appeared. "Shape this into something."

Gayle tried first, it took her quite a bit of concentration but after a few minutes she was able to shape a unicorn. She smiled and the unicorn wavered, then disappeared. Leanne went next, biting her bottom lip she concentrated hard, and was finally able to form a small cat.

"Good," Brakiss nodded. At that moment there was a small beeping at a console in his desk. Brakiss put away his toy flame. "Come, our Great Master is to speak soon."

He typed in a code in the keypad beside the door both Leanne and Gayle had come in. The locking mechanism clicked off and the doors swooshed open. He stepped out of the office, Gayle and Leanne at his heels, having no choice but to follow.

~**~**~**~**~

Julia awoke one part at a time. First came sense of touch, she was in a bed, not so newly made by the feel of the sheets, therefore, it must be her own. Secondly came hearing and taste. Sounded like there was someone around, and her mouth was incredibly fuzzy and tasted horrible. Then sense of smell, Julia caught the normal Yavin 4 smells she'd grown accustomed to, making it seem far more likely that this was her own bed. She also smelled food, and her mouth started to water.

"What does it take to get a meal around here?" she asked aloud, her voice scratchy and weak from not having been used in a while. There was the sound of a chair scraping against the stone floor.

"Hey, you're awake finally," Julia still had her eyes shut, but the voice sounded like Jaina's. "Go get Uncle Luke," and she was probably talking to Jacen.

"Are you alright?" Tenel Ka asked. Julia sat up and opened her eyes. Lowie, Tenel Ka and Jaina were now huddled around her bed. Julia rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times.

"Other than the fact that I'm STARVING I'm fine," Julia retorted. Like everyone in her family, Julia got a tad snappy when she got hungry. "Who's eating what and can I have some?"

"Oh, Jacen brought his lunch up," Jaina replied, turning around and retrieving the food. "I'm sure he won't mind!" in a typical sister move, Jaina handed over her brother's lunch.

As Julia was all but inhaling the food, Jacen walked into her room with Luke Skywalker. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "That's my lunch!"

"She was hungry," Jaina shrugged. "You've eaten already today, she hasn't eaten in a couple of days."

"So, what the hell happened?" Julia asked casually in between swallowing and chugging whatever juice Jacen had ordered.

"Well, there's bad news, good news, and more bad news," Jacen told her. Julia raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"That ship was Imperial design. The Second Imperium has Gayle and Leanne and they are no doubt trying to propel them over to the Dark Side," Luke explained.

"Oh come on," Julia rolled her eyes. "Gayle is the last person in the galaxy who will go Dark Side, trust me."

"You really think she'll be okay?" Jacen asked. Julia smiled inwardly at the concern he was showing for her friend, who, just the night before this catastrophe had been going on, and on, and on about how cute he was.

"She'll be fine," Julia assured confidently. "What's the good news in the middle then?"

"You were able to open yourself fully to the Force," Luke replied. "It is a great accomplishment in your training. Unfortunately, you weren't really paying any attention to what you were doing and destroyed half the landing field."

Julia grimaced for a second, then shrugged. "So, when's the rescue party heading out?"

"Julia, we have no way to find the Shadow Academy," Luke told her. She looked at him surprised.

"But you found it before-"

"And the same trick won't work again," Luke interrupted. "We're going to have to wait until they make a move. They're going to attack soon, we need to prepare. I can't leave the Academy. You say that Gayle won't go Dark Side, what about Leanne?"

Julia shrugged sadly. "As long as Gayle's there I don't think Leanne will have that much trouble," she sighed. "I can't even sense where Gayle is."

"It's alright," Jaina put her hand on Julia's shoulder to comfort her. "We'll find 'em, and they won't stand a chance."

~**~**~**~**~

Gayle and Leanne trailed after Brakiss. They stayed at least a meter behind him, widening the gap ever so slowly. When someone else turned a corner, Gayle and Leanne used them to mask their absence and took the first opportunity to escape their captor. After a few random twists and turns to be sure they'd lost him, Leanne turned to Gayle, "So now what do we do?" she asked.

"We find a computer monitor," was Gayle's simple reply. They weaved in and out of the hallways, avoiding stormtroopers until they found a computer monitor.

"Now what?" Leanne raised an eyebrow. "You don't know anything about these computers, how is this going to help us escape?"  
"It's not going to, this is simply random destruction," Gayle nodded to the hallway. "Cover me. No one abducts me and gets off cheap." Gayle searched for a panel so she could access some wires. She finally found one, and unscrewed it with her swiss army knife. She then braided the wires, plugged them back in, slammed the panel shut and dashed down the hall with Leanne in tow. The panel started smoking, then there was a small explosion where the monitor had been.

Leanne raised an eyebrow at Gayle. "Come on," she grinned, towing Leanne down the hall by the hand. "Let's find another one."

After the fourth computer console, Gayle and Leanne literally ran into Brakiss and Zekk. Zekk smiled smugly as Brakiss looked less than pleased. Brakiss grabbed Gayle by the arm and dragged her along as Zekk herded Leanne behind them.

"What are you doing?!" Gayle demanded as she stumbled along. "I didn't do anything!"

"You failed to be in the assembly hall to greet our Supreme Commander," Brakiss said icily. "Such failure is one step away from treason."

"Well excuse me for getting lost!" Gayle spat. "This is my first day!" then Gayle pulled away from Brakiss' grip. She looked over at Zekk, he had his arm raised as if to strike her, but nothing happened. Zekk's palm was paused mid air and quivering like something was stopping him from hitting her. Brakiss however had no such qualms.

"How do you expect me to learn where things are if you keep dragging me in a position that gives me a view of either your shirt or your cape?!" Gayle asked as Brakiss thrust her towards a large double door made of dark metal.

"Maybe if you grew to a normal height you would be able to see," Zekk retorted. Gayle glared at his back as he and Brakiss turned.

"Zekk's kinda hot, " Leanne commented idly to Gayle as they were caught in the line of people filling into the room.

"Yeah," Gayle rolled her eyes, "but there are two major character flaws. One, he's on the wrong side and two-" Gayle's sentence was cut off by a loud crash, everyone turned to see Zekk and his fist through a computer terminal. Yet another one destroyed. "That," Gayle shrugged to Leanne before turning to Zekk. "That'll learn it. Is it dead yet?"

Zekk turned towards Gayle with pure malice in his eyes. Leanne and Gayle called a hasty retreat and went through the double doors and sat down. "Who died?" Leanne muttered. The trainee sitting beside them turned and raised his eyebrow at them.

An image appeared on the dais at the far end of the assembly hall, and the room fell into an awed hush, instead of the silence it had been before. The image was of a wrinkly old man in a black hooded cloak. His skin was a pasty white, his eyes a reptilian yellow. He leaned on a twisted and gnarled walking stick. Gayle shuddered involuntarily and thought for the millionth time `What was Roganda Ismaren THINKING!?` in reference to the woman who, according to Children of the Jedi, bore this man's son. This man, was the former Emperor Palpetine, obviously come back from the dead yet again. 

"Who's that?" Leanne whispered to her friend.

"That's the `Supreme Commander`," Gayle replied.

"Shhh!" the trainee beside them hissed.

"-Formerly known as Emperor Palpatine," Gayle finished. Leanne raised an eyebrow.

"I thought he was dead," she commented.

"So did I," Gayle hissed back. Then the same trainee shushed them again, and they shut up and payed attention. Palpatine was in the middle of a rant.

"You will be the finest army ever assembled in the history of the Empire, for you are the only band of Jedi worthy of my service. Together, we will purge the universe of those hypocrite so called Jedi Knights and we will crush the feeble republic they so gallantly try to defend. We will rebuild the Empire and surpass its former glory, so that no small band of do-or-die anarchists will dare think of resisting our might.

"The gateway to victory is barred by only one man. To the one who brings me his head, I will offer enough power to devastate an entire star system. The name of our quarry is Luke Skywalker."

~**~**~**~**~

At Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy, this proceeded as usual, save for a few extra preparations. After Gayle and Leanne's abductions, Luke assumed that the Shadow Academy was preparing to attack. With no clue as to when, Luke had all his students getting ready for the assault as if it were the next day. He had devised a battle plan for several different scenarios, but had a pretty good idea of which one would be necessary.

Brakiss would want to test his students to the utmost, and therefore was probably going to try and get his students one on one with Luke's. How he was going to do that, Luke had no clue.

Julia trained hard, learning the how to use her Force talents, and how to control the Force, and let it control her. She advanced in her studies as Gayle and Leanne advanced in theirs, just on a different level.

A new group of trainees arrived as well; several stunning male figures among them. Julia had plenty of flirting to fill her time instead of missing Gayle and Leanne, or wondering what adventure she was missing, seeing as Jaina, Jacen, Tenel Ka and Lowie had gone off to Kashyyyk.

~**~**~**~**~

Gayle, after an interminably long period of butt kissing and sucking up, had managed to convince Brakiss and Tamith Kai that she was the perfect little Dark Side student. Through sugar coated words and wide eyed attentiveness she lead Brakiss to believe she was his most devoted student, and was willing to walk lightyears for the Second Imperium when in reality, she wouldn't have gone if they'd dragged her kicking and screaming.

This particular morning, Brakiss had Gayle scheduled for a surprise training session which he did not elaborate on. Being the figure of undying devotion that she was, Gayle neither asked for, nor demanded answers. He was the Master, therefor, he knew best.

Gayle was brushing her waist long hair when her door charm sounded. "Come in," she instructed in her most authoritative voice.

"Dark Sinister One," the Stormtrooper said, "Lord Brakiss requests your presence."

"Thank you Norys," Gayle replied curtly. "That will be all." Gayle had also exercised Leanne's flirting tips so as to be on a first name basis with most of the Stormtroopers. Everyone save Brakiss, Zekk and Tamith Kai now called her by her self imposed nick name Dark Sinister One, and many couldn't say it without hesitating. Her charms hadn't worked so well on Norys, but his hatred for Zekk led him to grant her deep respect, as she was Zekk's only competitor since he'd one a lightsaber duel proving himself Darkest Knight. Norys and Zekk's mutual loathing went deep; back to when they both lived in poverty on Coruscant. Norys was leader of a band called The Lost Ones, and Zekk had remained independent, a competitor scavenging for a living in the rough lower levels of the city-planet. way of survival had lead to Norys' nickname for Zekk, Trash Collector. It boiled Zekk's blood to hear mention of it, and now a days, not many dared.

Apparently, Gayle took too long in doing her hair, as just as she was putting her clip in, Zekk came bursting in.

"Lord Brakiss will see you in his office NOW."

Gayle glared at him. "Didn't you ever learn to use a door chime? What, are your fingers broken, Nosy?"

"How dare you, you insolent wench!" Zekk retorted. "I happen to be Lord Brakiss' finest-"

"Wind bag?" Gayle supplied.

"Why you dirty little morrt!" Zekk cried. Gayle had read enough of the Star Wars books to know the insult for what it was.

"And you call that an insult?" she asked, eyebrow raised. "I suppose the son of a kowakian monkey lizard like yourself wouldn't know any better."

Zekk's anger boiled, barely kept in check. "I can top you any day, you festering piece of Gamorrean swill!"

Gayle rolled her eyes, unintimidated. "Oooh, strong enough to take on someone half your size and a fraction of your body weight are ya? I'd better stay well away from you, you might make me hurt myself from laughing so hard."

A strange calm seemed to come over Zekk, his eyes narrowed and his hand instinctively went for the lightsaber at his belt. Gayle had a feeling she'd taken this a bit too far for safety, and had better leave ASAP. "That's the last outrage I'll tolerate insolent little slut."

She smiled and sighed wistfully. "I'd love to continue our chat, but Lord Brakiss wants me in his office, I must depart," with that, she left him smoldering in her quarters.

As Gayle walked into Brakiss' office, he looked up at her, aggravation showing in his blue eyes. "You are late." Gayle cast her eyes down humbly and played with her rings in mock shame. 

"Forgive me Lord," she said gently, "I was detained unnecessarily by young Lord Zekk. I won't let it happen again."

He nodded. "I will have a word with him as well. Make sure you do not repeat this error in respect again. Now I am pleased to say that you have advanced far enough in your training that we can now concentrate solely on your combat skills."

"Yes?" Gayle asked, eagerly.

"Follow me," Brakiss lead the way down corridors and through security check-points to a large chamber reminiscent of a high school gymnasium. Through another door at the opposite end of the gym, Zekk entered. He stopped near the center of the room where a large circle had been painted on the floor. Zekk took his place in a rectangular box attached to the circle, Gayle noticed there was one opposite this, probably for her.

"What exactly am I supposed to do here?" Gayle asked, looking at Brakiss. In answer, Brakiss simply reached beneath the silvery folds of his cloak and withdrew a metallic cylinder. He handed it to Gayle, and pushed her towards the circle.

"I'll be watching you and grading your skills," he told her.

"You- you want me to..." Gayle trailed off. The thought of a lightsaber fight did not appeal to her, especially not with Zekk. "I'm not ready, or worthy to fight your Darkest Knight!"

"His skill simply means he has more control over the saber and is less likely to kill you," Brakiss was looking at Zekk when he said this. Zekk narrowed his eyes, but nodded.

Gayle gulped, but steeled herself, and took her place in the box on this side of the circle. Brakiss left the room and Gayle, with a deep breath, ignited her lightsaber. The thrum of power and the brilliance of the deep crimson blade sent a thrilling chill down her spine. Her first time with a real lightsaber. The thought excited her and made her feel lightheaded.

Brakiss' voice came from hidden speakers. There must have been an observation room for him to sit in. The tinny and lifeless voice brought Gayle back to her current situation and away from the glow of the saber blade. "This is to evaluate and improve your skills. I will be watching you the entire time."

Gayle knew that last was for Zekk. Apparently Zekk recognized the hidden warning as well, and he swallowed hard. Zekk ignited his own crimson blade, and stepped into the circle. Gayle followed his example, not knowing what else to do. The two of them paced around the circle, neither willing to make the first move. Zekk seemed to want to attack her desperately, but for some reason could not force himself to do so.

Gayle decided to give him some help with the subject, and start taunting him, seeing as there was no way she would attack. "Street rat."

Zekk gave her a look that would have sent most people running. Gayle, however, returned it. Seeing Julia's mother in a bad mood prepared one more than adequately for such looks. Zekk sent out a retort, "Primitive."

"Trash collector." Zekk gave Gayle a look to make Satan shiver.

"Sow!"

"Is that the best you've got, Pimp?!" Gayle shot back. Zekk bristled with anger.

"Uncultured, lying, misbegotten she-dog!" Zekk's voice had raised, but he didn't seem to be at the anger level Gayle had previously achieved in him.

"Don't you mean bitch?" she asked, raised eyebrow. She extended her left hand, "Enchanté."

Just before Zekk could retort with anything, Brakiss burst into the room. Both of his students shrank away from him, as he had the look of someone ready to kill. He snatched back Gayle's unused lightsaber, which she had turned off the moment he'd entered the room. Beneath his delicate features, Gayle could see the barely contained fury at the lack of unity in his two most promising students. "Your useless squabbling serves no purpose. You both know better than to waste time like this. Time we do not have. Our attack on Yavin 4 is quickly approaching and everyone must be ready. Now I am forced to make you waste precious time in punishment!"

"Of course Lord Brakiss," Gayle bowed her head again. "Forgive us our folly."

"Clean out the aft storage compartment," Brakiss ordered, ignoring Gayle's attempt to brown nose. "This way."

~**~**~**~**~

After coming back from Kashyyyk, Jaina, Jacen, Lowie and Tenel Ka brought the news that the Shadow Academy was undoubtedly attacking. Luke had a planetary shield installed so that he and Tionne could monitor every ship that came in and went out. The fact that the planet and his school were relatively protected assuaged some of Skywalker's worries, unfortunately all the good the shield did was negated by the fact that the fact that attack was imminent. Therefore, Skywalker threw himself into his work.

Luke was teaching Julia and a group of other students during the afternoon, helping them advance in their studies. As she got the feel for her training exercise, Julia contemplated her new perspective on the world. `Yes,` she thought to herself, `the world DOES look different when it's upside down.`

Luke had her and a group of other students standing on their heads lifting heavy rocks through the Force and placing them in a large pile. Julia had a very large problem with this exercise seeing as she couldn't life anything to save her life unless she had a energy boost.

"Concentrate," Luke told them. "Let the Force flow. Don't will it to happen, let it happen," Luke had told her that she was there to work on her imagery. He had given her a job that she quite liked. Saboteur.

Julia was to fool everyone by using imagery. She was to make them think she had placed rocks on the pile, and then see what happened. She was quite enjoying the frustrated sighs, groans and curses from the other trainees as their carefully place rocks fell for no particular reason. "Your eyes can deceive you. Trust the Force."

Finally, with a small squeak of triumph, a trainee realized that one of the rocks wasn't there, and was able to balance his own rock. Julia sighed, her fun ended, and came out of her headstand. She looked around at the other students, still concentrating hard, and noticed something.

"Master Skywalker, how come there are fewer students now then a week ago?" Julia asked, as she looked around one training session and realized that there was at least five people missing.

Master Skywalker shook his head. "There's a virus going around, or something along those lines. Trainees are loosing so much energy that they can hardly function."

"Really?!" Julia's eyes widened. That's exactly what the Negaverse (main badguys in one of her favorite shows, Sailor Moon) had done.

"One of the newer trainees must have inadvertently brought it, there's nothing to worry about, I'm sure it will pass," Luke assured, taking Julia's shock for worry. Of course, Sailor Moon was just a cartoon, it couldn't be real, just like Star Wars.

~**~**~**~**~

Gayle and Zekk stood in the doorway to the storage room. For once they were not arguing. The both of them were standing with their mouths hanging open. The storage `room` was the size of an olympic swimming pool, and was in complete disarray. Labeled boxes and bins were piled high, but in no particular arrangement and various items from worlds and systems were strewn about, "I read about these places. Huge rooms full of nifty gadgets and pieces of people, but I never imagined THIS," Gayle muttered, her voice barely above a whisper. "Lord Brakiss wants us to clean this place up?! We could be here until the Black Hole Cluster of Kessel sucks the entire galaxy inside out!"  
Zekk shrugged, "Then I guess we'd better get started."

"You take the right, I'll take the left," Gayle told him. The two of them set out into their designated areas and got started with the organizing.

Gayle was trying to push the last big box back onto its proper shelf when the top fell of and the contents fell down on her head. Luckily, the hard and damaging things didn't hit her, and nothing was breakable. As Gayle stuffed the contents back in the box, she came across two copper alloy container that she KNEW the badguys were NOT supposed to have. Inside one of these canisters floated a black cat with a yellow crescent bald spot on its forehead. In the other floated a white cat with a matching bald spot. The two cats appeared to be in suspended animation. Gayle wrapped the two canisters in a packing blanket and then pushed the much lighter box back into its slot. Making sure there was nothing obvious left to be done in her own half of the warehouse, Gayle made sure there was nothing to trigger an alarm on the canisters and smuggled them off to her room one by one. She hid them under her bed and hurried back to Zekk.

"I'm done my half," she announced to him. Zekk looked up from the list he was checking.

"Took you long enough," he retorted halfheartedly. "We have an hour left until the Emperor's arrival. I suggest you take that time to clean yourself up," Zekk walked passed her and to the door, "you stink."

  
  


Leanne missed Gayle. Gayle was her only friend in the entire place, and it seemed as though she had shifted allegiances. Leanne knew that Gayle would never cross over to the Dark Side, but she wanted confirmation. She needed something to comfort her, so that she could retain the strength to resist their captors. Leanne stumbled over to Gayle's bed and was about to sit and wait for Gayle -wherever she was- when she stubbed her toe.

Leanne knew enough of the Shadow Academy to know that there was space under the beds for storage. She knelt down and pulled out the blanket which hid the two canisters Gayle had just finished smuggling. She inadvertently pressed the WAKE button as she did so, and as Leanne picked up the canisters they smoked with the release of gasses.

Leanne grimaced, and waved away the released gasses before she pulled out the contents of the first canister. Upon seeing that it was what appeared to be a stuffed cat. It was quite well made, very realistic, but it had to be stuffed, seeing as it wasn't breathing, and no cats looked like the pair off Sailor Moon. Knowing that Gayle wouldn't mind, Leanne tucked one of the cats under her arm, then realized that they were a pair, and shouldn't be separated. Sighing she took the other cat as well and made a note to Gayle so she wouldn't freak.

Leanne got a few looks as she walked down the hall with two stuffed cats under her arms, but she was used to being stared at. She got to her room and put the stuffed cats on her bed. Then, an announcement came on that the Emperor was arriving soon, so she decided to get cleaned up.

~**~**~**~**~

Julia sat at the top of the temple in the observation area resting her chin on her knees, arms wrapped around her shins. The wind blew her long blonde hair back out of her face as she stared up at the giant, orange, gas giant planet of Yavin. She could sense Gayle in that direction. Julia had always developed inexplicable links with her best friends, her new found Force talents just made them all that stronger.

She heard footsteps behind her, but didn't bother to turn around. The fact that there were footsteps even meant it wasn't Luke Skywalker, but one of her friends or fellow trainees.

"You okay Jules?" it was Tom, one of the newest wave of trainees. He'd come with the group that Luke said had brought that strange virus that drained energy.

"Fine, thanks," Julia replied softly as Tom sat down beside her. He had blonde hair, like her and blue eyes that were incredibly light. Something Julia found odd, was that unlike her eyes, Tom's eyes never shifted colour.

Tom grinned, he had such a warming smile, it was usually contagious but Julia was feeling oddly subdued at the moment. "I've never seen you so calm," he explained to her, "thought something might be wrong," Julia smiled at that. It was always nice to know people cared.

"I'm fine," she repeated, this time she looked over at him, "Just thinking..." Julia trailed off in a yawn. Tom frowned momentarily.

"Do you have that odd virus going around?" he asked, concerned. Julia chuckled at his concern. The minute she wasn't all smiles and energy everyone thought something was wrong.

"Just all the training is taking it out of me," Julia replied. She smiled sarcastically, "Do I have to be hyper all the time?"

"Of course!" Tom replied, "You're scary when you're quiet," Julia actually laughed at this. Her levity was brief though, and she went back to staring up at the sky and Yavin.

She sighed, "I hope Gayle and Leanne are okay."

~**~**~**~**~

Gayle's heart leapt out of her throat when she got back to her room. On the floor beside her bed were two empty canisters that had previously had sleeping cats in them. "Oh shit," Gayle muttered to herself. She rarely swore, but the occasion seemed to call for it. Someone must have broken into her room. But who would rifle through her things? And who would take the cats?!

Gayle then noticed the data pad on her dresser. She picked it up, and sighed with relief almost immediately. The scrawl across it was in roman letters, assuring it was from Leanne, since no one else in the galaxy save Julia knew them. It basically explained that she had taken Gayle's stuffed cats and would explain later.

"Attention trainees. Our Supreme Leader is arriving in an hour. Everyone is to gather in the main docking bay within the next forty five minutes."

"No time now, gotta freshen up," Gayle muttered. She'd have to talk to Leanne after they gathered to meet the Emperor.

  
  


Gayle, placed in the second row, near to where the Emperor's shuttle was to land, stood on tiptoe to see if she could find Leanne. Zekk's large form barred most of her view, but she managed to catch a glimpse of her friend and made a mental note of it. Everyone stood at attention as the Docking Bay doors opened. The Emperor's shuttle landed and the ramp descended.

What happened next confused Gayle to no end. The Emperor's four, red robed, honour guards came out, carrying a dais with the drapes pulled shut. Brakiss welcomed them with flashy words, a deep bow and grand gestures as they should be welcomed. The honour guards said something and then walked away quickly, carting the Emperor with them. Brakiss sourly dismissed the assembly, and everyone mulled around in confused disappointment.

"Leanne!" Gayle called as she squirmed into view of her friend. Leanne turned away from the trainee she'd been flirting with and smiled at her old friend. Gayle did not return the smile as to keep up her charade in front of the rest of the academy, and instead grabbed Leanne's arm and started pulling her out of the main docking bay. "I need to talk to you."

A path cleared for them without Gayle even having to push, such was her reputation. Leanne however, knew better. "What is with you lately?!" she demanded, trying to pull out of Gayle's grip. Gayle stopped and turned to her friend.

"Outside," the tone was harsh, but her eyes pleaded for understanding. Leanne nodded slightly.

"Alright," she agreed. Gayle flashed her friend a quick smile and then led the way out of the docking bay and down a few corridors until they were alone.

"Listen, I'm sorry for the facade, but I need to keep it up so they think I'm on their side," Gayle explained quickly. Leanne nodded in understanding.

"Dark Sinister One," she replied. Gayle nodded.

"Right. I'm sorry for having to alienate you in the process, but I don't think there's any other way for us to survive this place," she said. Gayle bit her bottom lip, not knowing how to put what she was going to say next, "And as for the cats-"

"Oh, you want them back?" Leanne asked, "I know I should have asked first, but well you know," Leanne shrugged, not really knowing what to say, "We're headed towards my room anyway, we'll swing by and you can get them back."

The two girls walked in silence to Leanne's room. Leanne keyed in the entry code and the doors whooshed open. The room was in complete disarray and the cats were nowhere to be seen. For a minute, Gayle and Leanne stood in the doorway staring at the mess.

"What happened?!" Gayle finally found her voice.

"A hurricane by the looks of it," Leanne muttered. "I can't believe this! What the hell's happened to my room!? And where are those stuffed cats? I put them right on my bed!"

"Leanne," Gayle swallowed, "they weren't stuffed."

~**~**~**~**~

"Master Skywalker, you wanted to see me?" Julia poked her head into Luke's office. Luke looked up from among several data pads. He paused a moment, as if organizing his thoughts, then nodded.

"Yes," he said, "please, come in."

Julia walked into the room at sat across from her Jedi Master. Luke put what he was doing aside and looked at her seriously, "I want you to tell me if Gayle or Leanne will be a threat to us," he told her. Julia blinked a few times, then shook her head.

"No way," she replied, "Gayle's hard core Light Side. There's no way she'd change sides. As for Leanne-" Julia trailed off. She didn't know Leanne as well as she knew Gayle, and Leanne was a far cry from an obsessed Star Wars fan. She furrowed her brows in thought, "I don't think she'll go Dark Side as long as Gayle's there. Why do you ask?"

Luke sighed. "I have a few reports coming in. Just rumors really," he avoided looking at Julia's eyes. "They say Gayle's giving Zekk a run for his money as Darkest Knight. And the attack is coming within the week."

Julia snorted and rolled her eyes, "Obviously Gayle's acting talents are being put to good use."

"You're that sure?" he asked. Julia nodded.

"Gayle and the Dark Side are like water and oil. They don't mix," Julia explained. She got up and headed for the door, and glanced back "Mind you, I'm fire."

~**~**~**~**~

"Attention trainees! Get to your places and prepare for combat!" the excitement in the air seemed contagious. The attack on the Jedi Academy was imminent and Gayle and Leanne had yet to find the two cats Gayle had taken from the store room.

"Gayle, what are we going to do?" Leanne asked her friend. "We're not coming back here, and if we don't find those cats-"

"Don't worry," Gayle put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "It'll all work out, I promise you. We have to get to our ships now, remember what I told you."

Leanne nodded, "No problems here."

  
  


In a shaded corner, two cats watched Gayle and Leanne. These cats were not your average kitties they had special powers, and memories that went back over a thousand years. They exchanged glances, "Are you sure?" the white one asked. The black one nodded.

"I think we can let her keep her normal life for now, though."

~**~**~**~**~

Julia was, as usual, sitting at the top of the temple. It was so peaceful, and gave her time to relax and think. She was staring out at the canopy, daydreaming when sunlight glinting off metal caught her eye. Far away around the same place she had seen the glint, there was a small explosion.

Calming herself, Julia used the Force to enhance her sight, "Son of a-" Julia jumped off her feet and ran towards the inside of the temple. Julia didn't know many ships in this galaxy, but she could easily identify the distinct shape of a TIE fighter. At the entrance to the temple, she passed Tom.

"Jules-"

"Find Master Skywalker!" she yelled behind her as she passed him. Tom caught the slight panic in her voice and started after her, "It's started! They're coming!" she answered his unasked question.

Julia searched the temple as quickly as possible until she found Skywalker in the Main Docking bay. "Master-" Julia's warning was too late and she was cut off by an explosion that shook the ground.

"That sounded like one of the shield generators," Luke muttered to himself, furrowing his brow. Then he dashed inside to sound the alarm.

~**~**~**~**~

The cats stole away aboard the first ship that had left the Shadow Academy. Incidentally, this was the TIE fighter that had blown up the shield generator. The pilot landed the craft and the two of them snuck out and separated with a quick nuzzle. The black one left quickly, but the white one looked back, silently wishing his partner good luck.

~**~**~**~**~

After two reconnaissance TIE fighters blew up one of the generators for the planetary shield, the Dark Jedi moved in. They were gathered in different small ships which would fly over the jungle. The Dark Jedi would jump out and, using repulsor packs, float to the ground and fight Skywalker's Trainees one on one. Gayle looked at the opening at her feed and felt her stomach flip flop. 

"Alright everyone, we'll split into groups of two," she ordered them. Gayle had been put in charge of her small group, and she was thankful for it, "Since there's an uneven number of us, I'll go alone. Happy hunting," Gayle took a deep breath and nodded. "Move out!"

Closing her eyes and swallowing Gayle stepped through the trap door and plummeted. Around here, other Dark Jedi were raining down upon the jungle of Yavin 4. They activated their repulsor packs and slowed their descent landing and splitting into small groups to hunt for their quarry.

Gayle headed towards the Great Temple. As she passed a large clearing, Zekk was just stripping off his bulky repulsor pack. Gayle paused and Zekk raised an eyebrow, "What do you want?"

"Just to wish you good hunting," Gayle shrugged. Zekk's eyes narrowed.

"You may have convinced Lord Brakiss," he told her, "but I know better. I'm keeping my eye on you."

"I work alone," Gayle replied simply, starting to walk away.

"Too bad," Zekk started to follow.

Gayle gave him a challenging grin, "Just try and keep up, city-boy!" with that, she tore off into the underbrush. Her years of camping giving her the advantage despite Zekk's longer legs, she eventually lost him.

  
  


Julia sat down on a fallen tree trunk and sighed. She'd not yet run into someone, and she really wanted to try out her newly acquired Jedi skills in a real life combat situation. There was a rustling in a bush. She jumped to her feet and went into a defensive stance. When a white cat with a crescent moon on its forehead jumped out of the bush, her eyes went wide.

"Artemis!" she shouted in surprise. Then she clapped her hands over her mouth, knowing that her cry had probably notified the enemies to her presence. The cat looked at her in an expression that looked just as surprised as she. Another bush rustled, and Artemis jumped up and landed on Julia's shoulder. Julia allowed the cat to sit there, he might hinder her a bit, but he was safer there. This time, the rustle was loud enough to identify as human.

"Don't worry kitty," she whispered to him. She tried to sound confident, but she could feel her heart pounding. "Okay, fine," she muttered to herself, "so I don't want to try a real life combat situation."

A tall blonde emerged from the woods and Julia visibly relaxed, but Artemis started hissing and spitting. "Julia?" Tom asked.

"Hush Artemis, he's a friend," she told the cat. Julia turned to Tom, "I'm fine, the cat just gave me a start. That's all."

Tom nodded, "No one else seems to be around here. I think all the Dark Jedi headed towards the temple, or east."

"I'll come in a sec, I just want to find a safe place for Artemis," Julia told him. Tom gave the cat a dubious look, then nodded at Julia.

"I'll be waiting," he told her just before he disappeared back into the foliage. Julia immediately turned her head to the cat.

"What was that all about?" she demanded, hands on her hips, "Tom is a good guy, otherwise he wouldn't be allowed in the Jedi Academy!"

The white cat just started smoothing his fur. Julia sighed and started scritching him under the chin. Artemis started purring. "Let's see if I can't find a safe place for ya'."

Julia crept through the forest with the white cat on her shoulder. As they came closer to the Great Temple, the two of them heard the sounds of fighting. Julia took Artemis off her shoulder. "I'm going ahead to check this out. Stay here," Julia left Artemis to check the clearing. Once she was out of sight, Artemis took out a small pen with a star on the top of the cap, and a crescent moon on the edge of the thing that clips it to stuff. He pulled on the star, and it extended like an antenna.

"What do you think Boss?" he asked the pen.

I'M NOT QUITE SURE, BUT THERE IS AN EVIL FORCE PENETRATING THIS PLACE. WE MUST ACT QUICKLY.

"She even knew my name," he said. The pen sighed.

SHE SEEMS THE BEST CANDIDATE, it replied. Artemis nodded, picked up the pen and then dashed after Julia.

  
  


Julia came upon two Jedi dueling. One was in all black and had a ruby red lightsaber, the other had a green lightsaber. Julia vaguely recognized the good Jedi, but could not remember his name. Either way, he seemed to be loosing. Julia prepared herself to suck the energy out of the Dark Jedi's lightsaber when suddenly what could only be described as a human with his flesh stretched too tightly and demonic eyes stepped into the small clearing. He raised his hand and the two Jedi fell, the energy having been sucked out of them. Julia's eyes grew to the size of saucers for the second time that day.

"You might as well come out," the monster turned towards where Julia was hidden, "I know you're there."

Julia felt her legs moving of their own accord, "Shit," she muttered, "Listen you evil fiend! You won't get away with this you hear me!?"

The monster laughed, "And who's going to stop me?" it asked, "You?" it laughed again. Julia felt evil energy surround her. She tried to fight it off, but it paralyzed her.

"Take this!" someone cried, and Julia saw something flying at her. It was a pen with a star on the top and a crescent moon on the bottom of the clip. Just as she caught it, the evil energy worsened, and Julia felt herself loosing consciousness, "Call out Moon Power Transform!" the same voice instructed.

Barely registering the words, Julia managed to raise her arm and yell, "Moon Power TRANSFORM!" a cleansing light filled her body and when it subsided, Julia's blonde hair was about a foot longer, she had a red bow holding it back, and bangs. She was wearing a blue pleated skirt, a red mask over her eyes, red high heels, white gloves with a golden band and an odd shirt with a red bow on it, "What the?!" Julia looked herself over, shocked.

The white cat Julia had recognized as Artemis jumped out of the bushes. Julia looked at him, "What the hell do I do?!" she screamed at him as the enemy recovered from the shock of the transformation.

"Who are you?!" the monster demanded.

"Codename: Sailor V!" she started, the introduction was not so familiar, but the words came easily. The Sailor Moon show had said squat about this! "I fight for love and justice! Sailor suited pretty girl soldier, Sailor Venus! In the name of the planet Venus, I'll give you divine punishment! Wow! That's cool!"

"Whatever," the monster turned to the two Jedi on the ground, "Kill her!" he ordered. The two got up, their eyes blank, and advanced towards Sailor V.

"Yeah, right," V muttered, "Sailor V KICK!" with a quick jump kick, she sent the two controlled Jedi flying. She turned to Artemis, "Now what?! Explain quick!"

Artemis tossed her a crescent moon compact. Sailor V caught it, amazed that the cat could throw so well with no opposable thumbs. She opened it, and pointed the compact towards the enemy, knowing what to do. At least this attack had been in Sailor Moon, "Crescent Beam!" A beam of light struck the monster and it disintegrated.

"You did very well," Artemis told her. Sailor V grimaced at Artemis.

"You have a LOT of explaining to do cat!" there was crashing of foliage a little ways away, "If we weren't in the middle of a battle..."

~**~**~**~**~

Gayle caught up with Luke Skywalker near the temple after about twenty minutes of messing with Dark Jedi minds, "Master Skywalker!" she yelled and waved. Luke stopped and turned. Gayle knew he had identified her for who she was, but could tell he was still on guard, "It's alright!" she assured, "I'm still a good guy."

Luke stood for a second, probing Gayle for evil, then nodded, "I need you to help me get into the Shadow Academy," he got straight to the point, "I have to face Brakiss once and for all."

Gayle nodded, "no problem."

"I'm with you too!" came a voice from above. Luke and Gayle looked up and saw the outline of a girl crouched in a tree, a mask on her face. She jumped down and landed on one knee. Artemis followed her. Standing up she made the peace sign with her right hand, "V is for Victory! Let's kick some Dark Side butt!"

"What the?" Gayle raised an eyebrow.

"Who are you?" Luke asked.

"Codename: Sailor V! I'm Sailor Venus!" she posed, left hand on her hip, right hand in the air, "Also known as Julia, but shhh!" she put her index finger to her lips. Artemis hissed behind her, "Oh it's okay! Sheesh, you're so paranoid!"

"So no orange?" Gayle asked. Sailor V shook her head no. 

"I'll explain on the way," he told them, leading them towards the _Shadow_

"Not yet anyway," she replied, "Apparently our version of Sailor Moon is not incredibly accurate," turning to Skywalker, she asked, "So what's the plan?"_ Chaser_.

  
  


Once the _Shadow Chaser_ landed in the docking bay of the Shadow Academy, the large blast doors on the far side started to open. Sailor V hid behind the boarding ramp of the ship and Gayle jumped up to the catwalks just before Brakiss walked through the blast doors. He and Skywalker faced each other.

"You should not have come here," Brakiss told him, "This place is for those of a higher calling. For those of us who do not hinder our powers by following antiquated rules that have no relevancy in the present."

"You'll never learn," Skywalker sighed, "will you Brakiss?"

"I will destroy you!" Brakiss ignited his lightsaber and charged at Luke. Luke drew his own weapon at the last possible instant and deflected Brakiss' weapon easily.

They duked it out for a while, and then, Brakiss seemed to tire. Master Skywalker did not lower his guard, but instead, he pressed his advantage. That's when Brakiss struck out with the Dark Side of the Force, throwing the Jedi Master back and knocking him out. V jumped from her place of concealment and checked Master Skywalker's vital signs before turning to face Brakiss.

"Excuse me, but that was quite uncalled for!" she scolded.

"Who in the Second Imperium are you?" Brakiss demanded.

"Oh, I'm not in the Second Imperium. Codename: Sailor V! The soldier of love! I am the sailor suited beautiful girl soldier Sailor Venus! Sailor V chop!"

Sailor V hit Brakiss and he went flying. Shaken, he raised unsteadily to his feet and hurried down the corridor. "I'll take care of Master Skywalker," Sailor V shouted to Gayle, "You take care of that psycho!"

Gayle followed Brakiss down the halls of the Shadow Academy until he stopped before a door that led to the inner most area of the space station. Brakiss argued with the red clad guard who was watching the door for a few minutes. Finally, Brakiss gave up reason and shot the guard. He hurried through the door and Gayle hurried to follow.

Brakiss arrived at a second door that swung open at his approach. Gayle rushed in behind him just before it shut. She hid in the shadows of the dimly lit room and watched as Brakiss advanced towards a throne in the center of the room. He knelt before it and the throne rotated one hundred and eighty degrees to face him. Within the shadows that enveloped the chair, a wrinkled, old face leered at the finely formed man before it. Gayle shuddered invoulentairily.

"You have failed me, Brakiss," came the voice of the Emperor that Gayle had read so much about, "I am most displeased with you. Now your incompetence has cost me my sanctity!" The Emperor then turned to the shadows where Gayle was hiding, "I shall see you again girl."

Her cover hidden, Gayle stepped into the light, "If I ever see you again, it will be far too soon," she shot, then as an after thought she added, "Emperor."

The Emperor glared at her a second, but then payed her no mind and turned back to his minion, "You have failed me for the last time!" he pushed a button on his arm rest. Gayle didn't wait to see what it did, she already had a good idea. Before anyone else could react, she dashed out of the room and back down the halls the way she came. Gayle got to the hangar bay just as Sailor V was helping Luke into the _Shadow Chaser_.

"Come on!" she shouted, "The Emperor has set this whole place to explode!"

They needed no other motivation. The three dashed into the _Shadow Chaser_ and took off just before an explosion spread from the heart of the station and turned that particular threat into so many particles of space dust.

  
  


END

  
  


End Notes: Hope you liked, it's the third re-write, oh GOD THE GRAMMAR! heh... hope this one's more enjoyable to read. I've worked on characterization and helped Gayle's grammar and such. Please stay tuned for the second installment Ja matta! 


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